John Murray | Abstract painter

John Francis Murray is an American painter, known for working in the Abstract style. His subject matter includes figure, landscape, still-life and portraiture. Inspired by the classical masters as a boy, his traditional training and artistic development has lead to work of quality. His paintings carry an appealing sense of clarity and color.

As a classically trained artist, Murray's choice for subject matter revolves around figure, still-life, portrait and landscape. His work is a combination of traditional subject matter, infused with bold brushwork and contemporary compositions.

Murray was educated at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. In 1991 he studied at the John Michael Angel Studio in Florence, Italy. Upon graduation, he became one of four banknote designers at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, where he drew presidential portraits and worked on currency designs for 16 years.

In 2005, he decided to leave the Bureau to pursue his art career full time. The same year, as a faculty member at the Corcoran School of Art, he won a grant from the Corcoran to do post-graduate work at the Repin Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia.

In 2001, his wife Lena, a Russian artist, founded the Bridgeview School of Fine Art in New York. John Murray is a co-founder and guest teacher at the Bridgeview School. Since 2005, John and Lena have been organizing summer master classes for American students in St. Petersburg, Russia at the famous Repin Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.

John has exhibited in many venues including the International Art Expo in New York City, the Strathmore Museum in Bethesda, Maryland, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, where he won Best of Show Alumni Award in 2002.

He lives in Silver Spring, Maryland and teaches drawing, painting and sculpture at the Corcoran School of Art while continuing to paint. He is represented by Nichols Gallery in Charlottesville, Virginia and Newman Gallery in Philadelphia.

Major commissions include portrait of Supreme Court clerk Suiter, religious mural for the Jesuit Chapel at the Georgetown University and historic restoration of the dome of the Hispanic Gala Theater in Washington DC.